Introduction to the Club

The Croquet Club plays its home games in the grounds of Belsay Hall and Castle and is a guest of English Heritage, so a condition of club membership is that every member has to be either an 'annual' or 'life' member of English Heritage. In addition, each member pays an annual Club fee. There is no joining fee and no "green fee" each time one plays.

The entrance to the site is off the A696 in Belsay village. (Post code NE20 0DX)

Another condition of our tenancy at Belsay is that we always play in 'whites', although naturally this does not apply to prospective new members whilst giving the sport a try who are only required to wear flat shoes/trainers so as to avoid damaging the courts.

All playing equipment - mallets, balls, hoops etc. - is available for use from the Club. Most members subsequently purchase their own mallets after they have decided what style, size and weight suits them best.

Golf Croquet is the main game but Association and Advanced Association are played on occassions. There are club afternoons of Golf Croquet on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Saturday and Sunday afternoons are for either Golf or Association games depending on the members present. The remainder of each week (apart from Friday mornings when the grass is cut) is available for any member to book court time for matches or friendly play of either format.

The club runs internal knock-out, league and ‘ladder’ competitions for Golf Croquet.

Each month from May to August, we organise a full day Association Croquet tournament for the more competitive club members.

New to Croquet?

If you would like to have a taster session please e-mail the club on belsaycroquet@gmail.com. Sessions can be arranged to suit demand.Alternatively, stop by the croquet lawn at Belsay Hall the next time you visit the Hall and Castle or ring David Millener on 0191 236 5374.

Coaching is available (at no cost) in either game and we are always happy to welcome new converts!

We have two courts in a wonderful garden setting with no traffic noise. Our playing season in 2016 will be from 23rd April to 18th September and we play on any day during site opening hours (10.00am until 6.00pm), except for a Friday morning which is when the grass is cut and the white lines are re-marked.

We field teams in the inter-club Golf Leagues run by Croquet North and a number of members enter the Croquet North knock-out competitions where they are able to play at the other clubs in the North East - Alnwick, Auckland, Bamburgh, Durham, Middlesbrough and Tyneside.

We also enter national inter-club competitions organised by the Croquet Association.